Method for measuring the concentration of polynucleotides

Abstract

A method for measuring the presence of polynucleotide in a sample, comprising the steps of: (1) preparing a sample, an agglutinative agent and an agglutination promoter capable of binding to polynucleotide; (2) mixing said sample, said agent and said promoter; and (3) measuring the degree of agglutination of the agent.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method for determining whether a target polynucleotide in a sample subjected to polynucleotide amplifying has been amplified, comprising the steps of: 
       (a) adding to the sample an agglutinative agent and an agglutination promoter capable capable of binding to polynucleotide;  
       (b) detecting the agglutination of the agglutinative agent; and  
       (c) determining on the basis of the agglutination whether the target polynucleotide in the sample has been amplified.  
     
     
       2. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide is double stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). 
     
     
       3. A method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the sample is one or more of the samples selected from the group consisting of a sample treated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, a sample treated by the Strand displacement amplification (SDA) method and a sample treated by Ligase chain reaction (LCR) method. 
     
     
       4. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide is ribonucleic acid (RNA). 
     
     
       5. A method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the sample is treated by the Qβ method with Qβ-replicase. 
     
     
       6. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide is single stranded DNA. 
     
     
       7. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide is a complex of RNA and DNA. 
     
     
       8. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said promoter is one or more of the promoters selected from the group consisting of 4′,6- diamidino-2- phenylindole, ethidium bromide, bisbenzimide and acridine orange. 
     
     
       9. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said promoter is one or more of the promoters selected from the group consisting of ethidium bromide, thiazole orange, bisbenzimide and acridine orange. 
     
     
       10. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said agent is one or more of the agents selected from the group consisting of a silver colloid, a gold colloid, a copper colloid and a latex. 
     
     
       11. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is carried out by visual observation. 
     
     
       12. A method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is carried out by measuring the absorbance of radiation using a spectrophotometer.